


Amaranth

by randomfills (spnfanatic)



Series: space verse [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Collars, Dark, Dean Winchester Whump, Dystopian Future, Father/Son Incest, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Underage, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, Leashes, Long WIP, M/M, Major Dean whump, Nipple Clamps, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rape/Non-con Elements, Restraints, Sam Winchester Whump, Sexual Slavery, Slavery, Some Cas whump, Spaceships, Whipping, alt season 13, implied and mentioned and alluded, implied whipping, lots of sam whump too, multi POV shifts, please read tags carefully, some jack whump, some mary whump, some nudity, space
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-16
Updated: 2020-03-22
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:40:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23174074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spnfanatic/pseuds/randomfills
Summary: A/U to season 13.Jack is trying to practice his powers with Sam when he accidentally opens a portal to an alternate universe. Cas senses the portal and rushes over, dragging along Dean and Mary. They all get sucked in and the portal takes them to a universe plagued with dark secrets, where earth was destroyed and humanity takes to space. Dean thinks it’s awesome at first, as they get to ride in an actual spaceship, but it’s less fun and games when he gets taken, and the nightmare really begins, as the rest of team free will scramble to rescue him.Part 1Slave!verse, dystopian!verse, lots of OCs, hurt and angst everyone. Heavy whump Dean and Sam, some whump everyone else!
Relationships: Dean Winchester/Original Male Character(s), Dean Winchester/Other(s), Dean Winchester/Sam Winchester, Sam Winchester/Original Male Character(s), Sam Winchester/Other(s), forced Dean Winchester/Sam Winchester - Relationship
Series: space verse [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1665886
Comments: 17
Kudos: 31





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'll be writing more fills while writing this but I've wanted to try and write a slave verse for a while now. While this may have a little more focus on Dean, there will be a lot of hurt everyone, especially Sam. There are going to multiple POV shifts (if you've read some of my other stories, you'll know I like to write in 3rd person limited) but it should be easy to tell. This is a complete A/U. Everything in here is completely made up.

“Sam, are you OK?” 

Sam opened his eyes again. The dust cleared and he could see a swirling mass of energy just floating in the air. “Uh, yeah, I’m OK, Jack. Umm...what’s that?” Sam asked, pointing to the energy. He was sure he had seen this before. Like when Jack was born. The swirling energy glowed bright yellow. He could feel the intensity of Jack’s powers coursing through it. Suddenly he was tempted to walk over to it and touch it. He knew it was a bad idea and had to resist the urge to get a closer look at it.

“It appears to be…” Jack walked a little closer, peering curiously at it. He straightened after a moment and looked back at Sam. “A portal.”

“A portal,” Sam repeated slowly. He watched as it suddenly pulsated. “Right. Um, Jack, I think you should get away from it.”

“Why, Sam?” Jack asked. “It was made by my powers. I can feel it. It’s harmless.”

The portal pulsated again and Sam felt himself gulp audibly. Jack was looking at him curiously. Sam had a really bad feeling about this and reached out to pull Jack back but he moved away from Sam and toward the energy.

“Really, Jack. We should go,” Sam said.

Just as Jack was going to reply, Cas materialized in front of Sam, with Dean and Mary behind him. Cas looked worried as he assessed the situation, taking in Sam’s equally nervous expression and Jack’s quizzical one. “Jack, get away from the portal!”

“Why is everyone telling me that?” Jack asked, looking slightly annoyed now. “I said it was created by my grace. It’s fine. It’s not going to harm anyone.”

Cas shook his head, “I sense a dark energy coming from it. Get away from it. Now.”

“What the hell is going on?” Dean demanded, stumbling forward. “Seriously, Cas.” He turned around to see the portal. “What...is that a portal?”

“Yeah,” Sam answered. “And Jack is seconds away from getting sucked in, I think.”

“I said-” Jack didn’t have time to finish his sentence as the portal pulsated one last time and darkness suddenly swirled around them. Jack felt himself getting pulled in. He scrambled to grab hold of something but it was too late. 

Dean groaned in pain. His head and ass throbbed. The last thing he remembered was getting angel mojo’ed by Cas after he sensed something was off. He shot up, opening his eyes. _Oh shit._ The portal. Jack opened a damn portal using his powers. He wasn’t sure what happened after that - there was a lot of wind and...shit, they must have all got sucked in. Dean glanced down to see cold, metal tile. Definitely wasn’t where he was last. He looked up again and noticed a bunch of large crates surrounding him.

“What the hell,” he muttered, debating on rising up to get a better look at this place. He looked around again, wondering where the rest of his family were. “Sam,” he hissed, “Mom. Cas. Jack. Anybody?”

He was met with silence. Dean leaned back. He was sure he wasn’t the only one who got sucked into the portal. So if they weren’t here with him, they must have landed somewhere else. _Just great._

Dean wasn’t sure how long he sat there. He nodded off to sleep a few times but kept waking up at the slightest hint of movement. So while he slept, he didn’t sleep a hell of a lot. It pissed him off, sometimes he wished he could turn off the side of his brain that was always on alert for danger, but it saved his ass so many times in the past. Still, Dean barely got any sleep and that did not make him a happy camper. Especially when he was in a strange place, separated from anyone he knew.

After the next interruption to his sleep cycle, Dean decided to just stay awake and start looking for the rest of the group. Surely they couldn’t be too far away. He still didn’t know much about travelling to other worlds. The last time Jack opened a portal, when he was a baby, it led them to a world that was in war - according to other Bobby, an eternal war between heaven and hell. He shivered just thinking about it. As he slowly rose to his feet, hand pressing against the wall behind him for extra purchase, he knew without question the portal Jack created this time did not spit them out in that world. He nearly stumbled as the floor felt like it was shifting under his feet. He caught himself just in time, grabbing hold of one of the crates in front of him to keep balance.

What the hell? Was wherever he was...moving? He looked around to find white walls. There was a window across from him and he found himself going over to it on wobbly legs. He nearly face planted as he grasped the edges of the window and almost stumbled back in sheer disbelief of what he was seeing. It was dark out, except for the easily seen...asteroids? But there was no way. He couldn’t be seeing asteroids because that would mean…

Someone cleared their throat behind him and Dean found himself spinning around so quick he almost lost balance. There standing before him was a man, who Dean was pretty sure was the same height, with short dark, almost black, hair and kind looking brown eyes. He looked older than Dean, though probably not by much, not quite other Bobby’s age. He had a frown on his face, looking like he may have never smiled in his life. 

“Uh.” It wasn’t what he meant to say. Actually he had no idea what to say because he just woke up on a spaceship apparently, obviously far away from home. He had no idea where his family were and was really hoping they were somewhere around here with him. And now this dude who looked like he belonged here, wearing some kind of dark green military outfit decorated with different kinds of golden shaped badges on it, was probably silently judging Dean, with his out of place jacket and t-shirt and jeans and boots. 

“Who are you?” the guy demanded.

Dean really wished Sam was here with him. What the hell was he supposed to say? “My, uh, name is Dean. Dean Winchester.”

“And what are you doing on my ship?”

“Your ship?” That confirmed it. He really was on an actual spaceship and they were actually traveling through space and he saw actual asteroids. Holy crap. Did the portal finally spit them somewhere cool?

“Yes. Were you not aware that I am the commander of this ship when you tried to stow away? I am Commander Ridlen. Percy Ridlen.” He stared at Dean like he was waiting for some kind of reaction, like his name was supposed to mean something to him. Maybe it did in this universe, but Dean wasn’t exactly from around here. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to detain you until further notice for trespassing on my ship.”

Oh crap. He didn’t like the word ‘detain’. He was not going anywhere with this guy. No way.

He was already trying to look for some kind of escape without being too obvious about it. He caught hold of a door on the far side of the room just within peripheral vision. He felt his hands clench beside him, wondering if he could knock the guy out and get out before he attracted any attention. He had long legs so it could take him maybe five seconds to make it to the door. Then suddenly he wondered if there were any security cameras around. Probably. But that was a risk he may have to take. Unless he could convince this Ridlen guy this was just a giant mistake.

“Uh, I think this is all just a misunderstanding,” Dean said. He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly as the man just stared at him. Yeah, guy was deadly serious - definitely not the type to smile. “Look I didn’t know this was your ship. I’m sorry. I’m, uh, not exactly from around here. I woke up by the crates and I, uh, think I lost my...friends.”

“Your friends?” Ridlen seemed to be deep in thought before realization dawned on him before smiling and nodding, like he knew who Dean was referring to. Dean found himself tensing up. “You mean a group of two men, a boy and a woman? They have been detained as well. If you’d like, I can lead you to them. Maybe we can all clear this _misunderstanding_ up.”

Dean hesitated. It certainly sounded like Ridlen had the rest of the group, but the way he stared at Dean while he was talking sent a chill down his spine. He found himself hanging his head with a sigh. He had to get to Sam, Cas, Mom and Jack though. 

“OK then, lead the way, Enterprise,” Dean said finally.

Ridlen raised an eyebrow at the name but didn’t comment. “If you’ll follow me then,” he said and gestured for Dean to follow behind him before turning and leading the way out of the room.

Dean only ever saw the inside of a spaceship from those Star Trek reruns Sam made him watch when they were bored and had nothing better to do than sit around in run down motels waiting for Dad when they were kids. He wasn’t going to tell Sam this - kid would never let him live it down - but he did find himself watching a couple episodes here and there when he was holed up in his room back in the bunker. Hey there was only so much slasher reruns a guy could take, even if it was _Hell Hazers_. That shit was good, but not that good.

They walked through a series of brightly lit hallways and rooms before coming to a stop to an innocuous looking brown door that didn’t clearly stand out. There was nothing on it that made it look all that special, it was just a door that Dean would think nothing of it just passing by. He supposed that was probably what made it so special. The guy pressed a hand to the door and it unlocked with a click and swung open of its own accord.

Well fuck.

“They’re right through here,” the guy told him, stepping back to let Dean through.

Dean looked at him suspiciously, part of him screaming at him that this was all some trap and another part just wanting to see his family again. Against his better judgement he walked right on through, Ridlen following shortly after he got half way across the room. The door slammed shut behind them but Dean couldn’t be bothered to care.

Sam was leaning back on a chair casually, his legs crossed on a small, metal table. He looked up to see him, a giant smile on his face. Kid was unharmed as far as Dean could assess.

“Hey, Sammy,” Dean said.

“Hey, Dean,” Sam greeted back. He uncrossed his legs and let them slide off the table. He stood up and went over to give Dean a hug. “God, Dean, we were wondering if they’d be able to find you.”

“We?” Dean broke off their hug and looked to see Mom sitting in the corner playing cards with Jack, well from the whispered conversation it sounded more like Mom was trying to teach Jack. Cas was off to the side, leaning against the wall, with his arms crossed as he tried to give Jack more tips. 

He and Sam walked over to the rest of the group. It was really a bizarre thing to see the group huddled up playing cards in a spaceship. Dean should be used to the weird by now but this was kind of taking it to another level. 

“Hey, Mom, Cas, Jack,” Dean said, crouching down to see Jack’s hand.

Jack twisted around and smiled widely when he saw him. “Dean! They managed to find you.”

Dean frowned. “Yeah. Mr. Star Trek there did. Why do you guys keep looking so surprised? How long were you here?”

“Dean, you’ve been missing for nearly two days now,” Cas said. Dean looked up to see the angel staring at him. 

“What? Really?”

Mary nodded, slapping another card down. “We’ve been here nearly that long as well. He found us pretty quick after we all woke up and decided to go look for you. Guess it isn’t all that hard to find a group of strange looking men and a woman wandering around where they’re not supposed to.” She jerked her head toward Ridlen who was looking on with interest.

As if that was his cue to cut into the conversation, the man stepped forward and said, “Since you are all reunited, I think we should get down to business and discuss what was promised.”

“And what was that?” Dean asked, feeling himself tense up again. For some reason he was getting some weird vibes about this guy.

“He knows, Dean,” Cas told him. “He saw it.”

Dean looked at him, gritting his teeth. “What?”

“Oh, yes. I know about the portal you all came through. It’s not exactly an uncommon occurrence around here,” Ridlen said casually. “That’s not what we’re here to discuss though. I just want to know what your business is here. Trespassing on a ship is a high offense.”

“If you know that we came through a portal, then you should know we’re not exactly from around...here,” Dean told him, getting annoyed the more this guy talked.

“We already went through that too,” Jack interjected, rather unhelpfully.

Dean shot him a scathing look and Jack went back to picking a card to toss. He looked back to Ridlen who just raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, well, I’m not exactly sure I’m buying the whole ‘coming from a different universe’ part,” Ridlen said.

“Show him your powers, Cas,” Dean hissed. It seemed like the obvious, go to answer for anyone not believing them. It normally got them out of a lot of jams. And Dean may have to admit he’d been getting used to the angels pulling them out of crisis after crisis. He knew he should keep relying on them but it really helped having basically a nuke at your disposal when the world kept getting broken and the bad guys kept getting stronger. 

He watched as Cas shook his head. “I can’t, Dean,” he said in that low, gravel voice of his.

Dean blinked, wondering if he heard him right. “What? You can’t?”

“My powers are fading. I don’t think there are angels in this universe,” Cas told him.

He turned back to look at Ridlen. If the man heard them, he didn’t make mention of it. “So why exactly have you come here?”

“We already told you,” Sam said. “We didn’t mean to. We came here by accident. The portal sucked us in and we woke up on the ship.”

The man was quiet for a moment, clearly thinking about what to do with them. He sighed. “If you are telling the truth, we may let you go. But if you’re not, you have no idea how much trouble you all landed yourselves in,” he warned them.

Mary dropped the cards and stood up then. The two days she had been sitting here twiddling her thumbs as she let strangers look for her son had her going stir crazy. “Look, I’m deeply grateful that you found my son, Dean, but like we’ve been saying for the past two days. We have no idea where we even are. We were on earth just two days ago.”

“And I told you already, that’s impossible,” Ridlen argued. He didn’t really understand why he was arguing with a bunch of delusional prisoners but it irked him they’d try to lie about something like that.

Jack also stood and glared at the man. “And we told you it’s not impossible. We know we were on earth. We were there.”

“You couldn’t be. Earth was destroyed almost 300 years ago,” Ridlen snapped, his patience running thin.

Dean exchanged an uneasy look with the group. Wherever they were, they could not go back to earth. This didn’t bode well. He turned back to the commander. “Unless we’re actually telling the truth and we’re from a different universe where earth is still intact,” Dean pointed out.

Ridlen was done. He was not going to argue with this group of people anymore. “I am going to have a long discussion with my men on what to do with you. I’ll come back when I’ve made my decision. Until then, stay here,” he said, turning to leave.

“Wait. Before you go, are you going to bring us lunch or something?” Dean asked as he paused by the doorway.

“There are sandwiches on the table over there. I’ll send someone to bring you food and water at meal times. I will see you all when I’ve come to a decision on what to do with you,” he repeated, before leaving the room and slamming the door shut behind him.

Dean sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Son of a bitch.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes this is an a/u where Lucifer actually got stuck in on the other side of the portal and didn't pull Mary in.

It was official. They were stuck in space. Jack tried to make another portal in the room they were quarantined in and there was nothing. He couldn’t even make a small wisp of grace materialize into his hand. It was just a lot of glares and frustrated huffs of breath as he tried to concentrate on the power inside him. But nothing happened. Just like when Cas tried to heal a minor scratch on Sam’s arm. 

Sam just sighed and went to lean against the wall. They had been stuck here for hours now. Dean was eating one of the sandwiches like he was starved, which by all rights, he probably was. The angels had no powers and their lives were basically in the hands of a strange man who didn’t want to listen to anything they had to say. It really didn’t bode well for them. Sam could see the agitation on Dean’s face. He started to pace a few feet away from everyone. Mary, their mom, had been unusually quiet, and Sam suddenly felt bad for her.

She was still getting used to being practically plucked from her own timeline by Chuck’s sister, Amara, where the world moved on without her and Sam and Dean grew up as hunters. It had been a hard year for everyone, but Mary especially. She was still playing catch up with technology, with Sam and Dean, and Sam caught her multiple times back in the bunker, staring at old photos of John Winchester almost wistfully. He wished he could do something to help his mom accept that the world was the way it was for a reason and they couldn’t get things back to what they thought should have been their lives. Sam and Dean knew that first hand, having traveled through time more than anyone would want to admit. 

Now they were basically plucked from their universe and tossed into a whole new one where they were going to have to learn the laws of the land and fast, if they wanted to try and fit in so that they didn’t rouse any (more) unwanted suspicion so they could eventually get back home. He didn’t like the idea of earth being destroyed. He and Dean had saved the world so many times, brought it back from the brink of destruction, cancelled the stupid apocalypse the angels had been so insistent on having. It was just...wrong. Like he never imagined any universe without an earth, which was stupid, because knowing Chuck, he probably made so many universes he lost count and there were bound to be a few out there that didn’t have an earth in it.

“So what are we going to do now?” Jack asked into the silence. Sam looked to see the nephilim was sitting cross-legged on the floor. He looked around worriedly. “Cas and I, we’re useless here. And you heard that man - he’s trying to figure out what to do with us. We don’t belong here.”

“Whoa. Slow down, kid,” Dean said, stopping where he was and crossing his arms. “Let’s not panic just yet. Yeah, you and Cas don’t have your angel mojo right now but we can figure out how to get out of here without it.”

“So we’re going to escape then?” Mary asked. She looked at Dean with a raised eyebrow. “We’re not going to wait for him to come back?”

Dean opened his mouth to respond but Cas cut him off, “Dean is right, Mary. You heard him. According to him, we’re trespassing, and apparently that is a high offense in this universe. If we wait, whatever decision is made, will not be good for us.”

“So you think it’d be better if we ran away and became wanted fugitives instead?” Mary asked, turning to look at the angel.

Sam sighed. He ran a hand through his hair. Mom was right. Their options were very limited here and they had to really be careful because if they tried to escape and failed, there were probably going to be worse consequences than just a simple detainment. And if they succeeded somehow, they would be on the run for who knew how long in a universe they had no idea how to even navigate. 

“I think Mom’s right,” Sam said, looking around the room, taking in all the stares. “Look, I would be all for escaping if Cas and Jack had their powers still, Dean. But one wrong move and we could be facing more than just detainment. We have no idea the laws here,” Sam explained. He stared down his brother before Dean sighed. “I mean I want to leave too, really I do. But we have no way of getting home right now and I think we should buy some time to find a way to create another portal or another way to get back to our own universe.”

“I know you guys are right. I just hate waiting,” Dean grumbled after a beat of silence.

“Yeah, well, I hate being right in this case,” Sam responded.

Mary patted an open spot for them to sit across from her and Jack. “Why don’t we all sit down and discuss what we all know? Maybe we can make more sense of where we are.”

Sam nodded and walked over to sit next to Jack. He looked up to see Cas approaching the circle slowly. Dean just sighed and said, “OK. Just let me grab another sandwich first.”

Mary smiled. “Of course.”

They waited for Dean to walk back with a sandwich in hand. He didn’t look happy but Sam was sure no one here was all that happy. It probably would’ve been the coolest thing to happen to them if it wasn’t for being detained for ‘trespassing’, oh and if Cas and Jack didn’t lose their powers either. Now they were sitting ducks.

“OK, so I’ll start first. We all woke up inside this ship,” Mary said, mostly telling Dean since he had been separated from them. “The portal Jack created had been visible for a few minutes before it disappeared but Ridlen and a couple of his men saw it.”

“Wait, the portal was still there?” Dean asked. He didn’t understand why it spat him out away from it and the rest of the group. “I woke up behind a bunch of fucking crates.”

“That is odd,” Cas said. “Last time Jack created a portal, well, also accidentally, we were all able to walk through it. This one had been acting peculiar.”

“When did I create a portal?” Jack asked, leaning forward. He frowned, trying to remember. “Are you referring to when I was a baby?”

“Yes,” Cas replied. “Your birth created a portal into the ‘Apocalypse World’.”

“Apocalypse World,” Jack murmured.

“Yeah and trust us when we say this, kid, it ain’t a place you want to be,” Dean snorted.

“Is it really that bad?” Jack asked.

“It’s called ‘Apocalypse World’ for a reason,” Dean told him, raising an eyebrow. Silence followed as Jack tilted his head, trying to imagine the world. Dean sighed and elaborated, “Just think about earth but with hellfire and brimstones and angels locked in some long ass war with demons.”

“And don’t forget about the demons with horns,” Sam interjected, remembering when they stepped through briefly. 

Jack frowned, “I...can’t imagine a demon with horns. Would that be a human with horns since they would have to have human vessels?”

“I guess?” Sam said. “And fangs. They had fangs too if I remember right.”

“Yes, you’re remembering correctly,” Cas said.

Mary shuddered at the image of a demon not quite looking human. She hadn’t actually been on the other side. “At least Lucifer is stuck there,” she said.

The group lapsed into silence as they remembered the showdown with the archangel. Mary had actually managed to shove him into the portal before it closed up, trapping Lucifer on the other side. No one could quite believe it happened. But it did.

After a moment, Sam cleared his throat, “OK so we’ve established that the portal acted differently from last time. What else do we know?”

Jack raised his hand as everyone turned to look at him. “Cas and I are useless,” Jack mumbled.

“Yeah so whatever’s up with this universe must be doing something to your grace,” Dean said, finally taking a bite of his sandwich.

“Actually, Dean, I can’t even feel my grace anymore,” Cas said quietly.

The group looked at him. Sam wondered if he heard correctly. “I’m sorry, what?” Dean asked before Sam could open his mouth.

“I told you it had been fading. It had been fading for _days_ now,” Cas told them.

Jack nodded his head. “It’s true. I can barely feel my own grace. I think that’s why I can’t open up another portal. So yeah, we’re useless.”

Dean sighed, trying to take in the new information. “OK, so let me get this straight. We’re sitting out in space in some weird universe where earth was destroyed and we have no way of getting home because our ‘aces’ up our sleeve have basically been neutered.”

“We’re not dogs, Dean,” Cas deadpanned.

“He means you guys don’t have your powers,” Mary said.

“That’s correct then,” Jack answered with a nod.

“Hey let’s not panic just yet, Dean,” Sam interjected, putting a hand on his brother’s shoulder.

It was slapped off as Dean turned to glare at him. “I’m not panicking. I’m just trying to wrap my head around what’s going on here. Look all I know is that I woke up with a bunch of stupid crates, tried to call out to you guys and got nadda. Then I look out the window and see fucking asteroids passing by outside. It’s like we landed in an episode of _Star Trek_ or something.”

Sam raised an eyebrow at his brother’s TV reference. Dean must have realized his mistake but it was too late to take it back. Sam was suddenly intrigued. He understood it was probably absurd to be zeroing in on this one little detail out of everything his brother said, especially in the middle of their current predicament, but he couldn’t help it. Or maybe it was because of their current predicament. Whatever the reason, Sam latched onto it like a dog with a bone and grinned, “Star Trek...really, Dean?”

Dean’s glare deepened. “Hey, I can’t just keep watching reruns of _Hell Hazers_ , OK? Even I can go stir crazy in between hunts.”

“Right. Whatever you say, Dean.” Sam found himself rolling his eyes. As Dean muttered a ‘nerd’ under his breath, Sam was actually secretly glad that even under such duress he could always count on his brother to still be...well, Dean. It felt easy and familiar to banter and joke and tease Dean. Sam wasn’t sure when it all started, when they were kids probably, when John left them alone to fend for themselves in old, run-down motels in shitty parts of town and Dean had to figure a way to comfort Sam besides telling him their dad would come back soon, don’t worry he’s just running late from a hunt. Sam figured out that was partly a lie when he was 8 and he kept pestering Dean about dad and how their food was getting low. He had been pretty damn perceptive as a kid and Dean had to come up with some way to distract him.

Now it came naturally, like a second skin. Like Dean saying ‘bitch’, and Sam saying ‘jerk’. It was just comforting to know that even in situations like these they would always be Sam and Dean.

“As amusing as it is seeing my boys teasing each other, I think we should go back to the list,” Mary said, smiling fondly at them.

“Right. Sorry, Mom,” Sam murmured. He went back to thinking about the day they arrived. They met Ridlen and a couple of his men, all wearing some kind of military outfit. Ridlen had stepped forward just as the portal vanished. He hadn’t looked the least bit concerned over a random portal, just the group. Wherever they were now, portals seemed to be more common here than where they were from. It was an interesting tidbit to store for later.

“There is one detail that stood out to me,” Jack said. He waited for the group’s attention before continuing, “I remember there was this man. He had long hair, kind of like Sam except his hair was darker, almost black, and he was standing behind Ridlen. He wasn’t wearing clothes similar to anyone else in the room.”

Sam furrowed his brows in thought. What Jack was describing sounded vaguely familiar.

“Yes. I think I remember who you’re talking about,” Cas said. “The man was wearing something more akin to ‘street clothes’ as Dean calls it.”

Dean raised an eyebrow. “Like what? Jacket? Tee-shirt? That kind of thing?”

Cas shook his head. “He was not wearing a jacket that I remember. He had a tee-shirt on but it was old with a lot of holes in it.”

“Anything else?” Mary asked. She couldn’t remember seeing a man wearing something like that behind Ridlen. 

“He had what looked like a collar around his neck,” Jack said suddenly.

“Like a dog collar?” Sam asked curiously.

“A metal collar,” Cas said.

“Great,” Dean said, slumping in defeat. “We’re stuck in who knows where with a guy who has a strange fetish for men in collars.”

“I think it’s worse than that,” Cas said with a grimace.

Just as Sam was about to ask what he meant by that, they heard the door behind them open.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **warning** : These next few chapters are going to have a heavy focus on Dean. Also another POV shift in the middle of the chapter. Also, things get creepy from this point on. If father/son relationship squeaks you, turn back now. Please. You've been warned.

Dean watched as Ridlen and a couple other people he didn’t recognize walk in. The man was still wearing his military uniform, his black boots clanking heavily against the floor. He stood a few feet away from them and just watched them. His impassive stare reminded Dean of John Winchester, when he was still alive. The one he got when he was on a hunt and was trying to assess the situation carefully.

Dean felt his hand clench involuntarily into a fist, like he was getting ready for a fight. This was the man who held their lives in his hand. He could do whatever the fuck he wanted and sure, they could put up a fight, try their damnedest to escape, but they had no idea what they would be running into, no idea how many others they had to fight to get off this damn ship, and then what after that? Where the fuck would they go? Dean hated to admit it, but this time, they were on enemy territory and they had to abide by the rules, whatever they may be, or they were going to get royally fucked.

“So what’s the verdict, Captain Kirk?” Dean asked casually. He knew he probably shouldn’t be joking like that, but he couldn’t help it. It came out of his mouth before he could think. Sam elbowed him in the rib and he hissed at the unexpected pain.

“My name is Commander Ridlen,” the guy said, the reference going over his head. Dean thought the guy really needed to smile more but that was probably asking for too much. “Anyways, I’ve spoken with a few of my men here,” he gestured to the men on either side of him and Dean wondered, absurdly, if they even had names, “and we’ve decided that we’re going to release you all because you may have spoken the truth.”

Dean looked back at the rest of the group to see everyone equally surprised. It wasn’t like he wasn’t grateful to be getting out of quarantine but it just seemed easy, too easy. He turned back around to see Ridlen rubbing the stubble on his chin as he watched them. “Of course, we do have one condition,” he said, and Dean had to fight the urge to groan. There it was. Always with a fucking catch. “We want information.”

There was a beat of silence as everyone exchanged looks. It seemed relatively innocuous but it really depended. “What kind of information?” Mary finally asked.

“Oh, nothing you can’t give,” Ridlen said simply, crossing his arms. “We want to know more about the portal you came through and what it’s like in your own universe.”

Dean blinked. That wasn’t so bad really. They couldn’t give much detail on the portal Jack created because they weren’t sure themselves and it wasn’t like these guys could just magically jump into their universe, so what was the harm in telling them?

“There’s really not much to tell you,” Mary said, taking point again. “We don’t know much about the portal ourselves. It isn’t something we’ve really seen before.”

“I created the portal,” Jack said and Dean nearly smacked him. That part could’ve been left out, even if their powers faded. They couldn’t just say that crap to complete strangers. Dean still wasn’t trusting this guy. No fucking way.

“What the fuck are you doing, Jack?” he hissed.

Jack frowned. “I’m trying to help. Aren’t we supposed to be giving information?”

“Yeah but not that,” Dean grumbled, turning to look at his Mom again. Mary took that as her cue and cleared her throat.

“Anyways, the portal appeared. We’re not really sure how. But it sucked us all in and we woke up here in your spaceship,” Mary told him.

“But didn’t the boy just say that he created it? How exactly?” Ridlen asked, suddenly intrigued.

Cas opened his mouth but Dean turned to him and mouthed ‘lie’. Cas said, “Like Mary said, we’re not exactly sure what happened. It was just there.”

Jack nodded, following the direction of the story and said, “I may have thought I created the portal. My memory, sometimes, gets...fuzzy.”

Ridlen wasn’t sure if he really believed the strangers but he didn’t really have much choice. The rest of the story was sound. He had been there when they were practically flung out and the portal closed. It wasn’t anything he had quite seen before when it came to portal travel. Usually people stepped out but it almost seemed like the group didn’t even get a choice, and usually portals lasted longer than this one did.

He studied each of the strangers. The woman had blond hair, blue eyes and a sharp tongue and take-charge attitude. He liked her fire. He thought if they met in any other circumstances, there could be something there. Perhaps. He let his eyes roam over the rest of the group. There was a man with dark messy hair and blue eyes in a long tan trench coat. It did seem very earth-like, and something quite out of place out here. Most people wore military clothing unless they were slaves.

Other than that though, the man wasn’t all that extraordinary. Their eyes met briefly and Ridlen nearly shuddered. There was something odd about the man but he couldn’t quite pinpoint what. Maybe he was too quick to judge. Either way, it didn’t matter. He wasn’t going to dwell on it right now. His gaze quickly swept to a man with shaggy brown hair and hazel eyes. He was tall, taller than even Ridlen who stood at 6’1, and built as well. He was also wearing something an outfit that was out of place here and Ridlen was beginning to realize there was more to this group of strangers than what meets the eye.

The man next to him had dark blond hair and green eyes. He was the one who referred to him as ‘Kirk’. He was staring back at Ridlen with an expression that he couldn’t decipher. Ridlen didn’t like it. He was usually pretty good at being able to read people. Something about this man rubbed him the wrong way.

He looked over to the boy. He was the only one in the group who was smiling. He looked pretty young, if Ridlen had to guess, probably under 20 years. He wondered what a young boy was doing traveling with this much older group.

Ridlen cleared his throat, “So as I said, you’re free to roam around the ship as you please.”

“We’re free to roam the ship?” the blond haired man repeated. “But we’re not free to leave it?”

“You will be once we have the requested information,” Ridlen assured him. He wanted to know about their universe. If they were telling the truth about earth still being intact, he wanted to know everything there was to know about it. He only ever heard stories from people whose great grandparents were willing to share. 

The group of strangers looked at each other, before turning back to Ridlen. “We want to know about your universe, your earth,” Ridlen reminded them.

“What do you want to know about earth?” the boy asked.

“Everything,” Ridlen said.

Ridlen hadn’t been sure they would actually tell him anything but was pleasantly surprised when they told him about what life was like on their planet. There were buildings and people dressed in different colors, not having to wear the same kind of military style clothing. It was interesting, different. They didn’t have slaves. He remembered hearing stories about people, even on earth, owning slaves a long time ago. It was a little strange that these people didn’t have slaves where they came from.

After they told him what he wanted to know, Ridlen decided he wasn’t going to keep them locked up here any longer. He gave them a small tour of the ship. They climbed up a set of stairs that led to the main floor.

There were more men and women dressed in military-like uniforms. They weren’t all dark green like the one he wore. Some had on black uniforms and others white. The colors signified rank. He was the Commander of the ship so he got to wear whichever color he wanted. The badges on his uniform showed that he was in charge, though even without it, he was pretty recognizable. Ridlen had a reputation of being somewhat of a hardass, but just leader. His crew knew him, and he was pointed out quickly to most of the newcomers.

He made casual introductions as they passed people. He also learned all of the strangers’ names. There was Mary, and her sons, Sam and Dean. The man in the coat was named Castiel and the boy was Jack. He was still interested in Jack and his curious slip of the tongue. There was something he knew they were hiding and it pertained to Jack. He was going to find out what it was that made Jack special.

As he showed them more of the ship, he could see them all gawking at the impressive size. Especially the man, Dean.

“Dude, we’re actually in a spaceship,” he said to Sam.

Sam rolled his eyes. “I know, Dean.”

Ridlen raised an eyebrow. “Do you not have spaceships on earth?”

Dean snorted. “We have rockets but nothing close to an actual spaceship like this. This is like something out of _Star Wars_.”

“What is that?” Ridlen asked. It must be something related to earth.

“It’s a movie series that humans on earth like to watch,” Castiel explained.

He found the comment a little odd but decided not to mention it.

“It’s really good,” Jack said.

He led them through a series of hallways before finding the dining room, which was a huge room that was reminiscent of a cafeteria that could’ve been previously found on earth. It had long, wide tables and dozens of chairs set up. 

There was a small line formed in front of the kitchen and he found his son, Farrow, easily. The collar around his neck was a dead giveaway as he was the only slave allowed in the dining hall at the request of Ridlen.

“Hello, Farrow,” Ridlen greeted, clamping a hand on his son’s lithe shoulder.

Farrow jumped in surprise at the unexpected contact. He turned quickly and bowed his head in respect. “Father.”

“Now, now, none of that. We’re in good company. I’d like to introduce you to my new friends,” Ridlen said. He waited for Farrow to lift his head again. He turned his son around so that he could see curious faces peer at him. “This is my son, Farrow. Farrow, these are Mary and her sons Sam and Dean, and their friends, Jack and Castiel.”

Dean was staring at the collar and then at the black band wrapped around Farrow’s wrist. “He’s your son?”

“He’s also my slave,” Ridlen answered the unasked question.

He felt Farrow fidget under his touch.

Dean looked somewhat indignant upon hearing that. “Wait...what? He’s your slave?”

“You have slaves here?” Sam asked at the same time.

Ridlen frowned. “Yes. Is that a problem?”

He watched the group carefully. Dean looked moments away from interjecting but it was Mary who said, “No. We don’t have a problem. It’s just that we don’t have slavery where we came from. At least not anymore.”

Ridlen nodded. He understood it could be quite a culture shock if that was the case. “Farrow is my son and slave. I still love him, despite his status.”

“And I’m sure he must really love you too,” Dean said, voice tinged with sarcasm.

He was elbowed in the side by his brother. “Dean, shut up,” Sam hissed.

Ridlen waved off their remarks. “It’s quite fine, Sam. I understand your brother’s reaction.” He turned to stare the man down. Dean’s jaw twitched. Ridlen curled his fingers, a small movement that was barely noticeable. Something about Dean was really getting under his skin and Ridlen wasn’t quite sure what it was. “Farrow does love me,” he told the man before turning his attention back to his son.

“You must be hungry, my darling boy,” he whispered into the boy’s ear. He felt Farrow nod. “Come, let’s get you something to eat then.” He ushered them through the line.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **warnings** : More focus on Dean, more creepiness. Please take a good look at the tags. I'll be adding more as the story progresses. Thank you!

“This feels wrong,” Dean hissed into Sam’s ear, as he watched the man walk his son through the crowd of military dressed people. How could this kid, and OK yeah the guy looked like he was 20 but he was way younger than Dean and acted almost childlike that Dean was pretty he could call this dude a kid, but how could this kid act like this was all normal? Not to mention he was barely dressed, at least by Dean’s standards. He had on a shirt, if you could even call it that. It was more like rags. It had holes and looked like it didn’t get washed all that often. The kid’s jeans were also in the same condition. Other than that he wore a metal collar and a black wristband that must have signified his status as a slave. He didn’t even have any shoes on and Dean had to wonder if he went barefoot everywhere.

The crowd parted for the two. Dean and the rest of the group stood awkwardly to the side, watching as the line bounced back after Ridlen and his son disappeared into the kitchen. Everyone went back to what they were doing before like this was normal. He still could hardly wrap his mind around owning slaves as something normal. What kind of universe did they land themselves in?

“Tell me about it,” Mary murmured. He turned to look at his Mom and saw the far away look she got in her eyes whenever she drifted back to better memories. Sometimes he felt like Mom was slipping away from them and there wasn’t a damn thing he or Sam could do to stop it. It wasn’t a secret it had been really hard for her to adjust. She claimed she was getting better but Dean was the king of secrets and bottled up feelings and he could hone in on a lie pretty quickly. He, unfortunately, had a lot of practice in that regard. So yeah, she was drifting, remembering better days like before John Winchester became a hunter and before Dean was old enough to make his own sandwiches and Sammy was still just a fussy baby.

They waited for a little while before the two men came back with a tray of sandwiches. Dean found himself staring at the way Ridlen had his hand casually pressed behind his son’s neck, steering him over to the waiting group. He found it oddly possessive. Ridlen led the way over to a nearby table and they all sat. He kept touching his son the whole time, running his hand through the kid’s hair like he was a cat. And Farrow for his part just set the tray in the middle, picked up a sandwich and started to eat, like it was perfectly normal. Dean shuddered, finding the whole situation just plain creepy.

Despite the creepiness of it all, Dean found himself picking up a sandwich as well and biting into it. There was some kind of meat in it, that tasted a little like chicken but Dean had no idea what it was. There was no way it was chicken though. He was pretty damn sure there weren’t any chickens in space.

“So what exactly do you do here?” Dean heard his brother ask as Dean swallowed the bit he had taken. He tried to ignore what Ridlen’s hand was doing to the kid and focus on the man’s face. There was almost no emotion on the guy’s face though.

“I transport cargo,” Ridlen said after a moment. He leaned his son closer to him so that Farrow’s shoulder was pressed against his chest. “This is a trading ship. We go from planet to planet and give out supplies.”

“What kind of supplies?” Sam asked curiously.

“Oh it varies. Sometimes it’s food, other times it’s weapons,” the man told them.

“You have weapons in this ship?” Mary asked, looking surprised.

“Of course,” Ridlen said with a nod. “We keep it locked up safely however.” Dean watched as the man swept his gaze over them quickly, trying to assess if there had been any danger in telling them that much. He must have figured it was harmless enough information because he relaxed a little, leaning back in his chair casually.

Farrow seemed to have finished his sandwich and was leaning into his father. Dean watched as the boy nuzzled the man’s arm. He cleared his throat, somewhat uncomfortable of the intimate display of affection. He didn’t care if it was normal for this universe. This was just fucking wrong. “So that’s all you do, huh? Just travel in your spaceship all day and give stuff away? Sounds kinda boring.” To be honest, it sounded far from boring. Sure he still preferred his Impala but an actual spaceship that was big enough to fit almost a city of people in it was something from a sci-fi movie.

Ridlen leveled him with a look that Dean had a hard time deciphering. He found himself squirming a little under the man’s gaze. “I assure you, Dean, it is far from boring,” the man told him and there was something really grating in the way he used Dean’s first name like they were familiar with each other. It got under his skin and Dean found himself gritting his teeth. Everything about this Ridlen guy was starting to piss him off.

He was about to say something back, probably something he was going to regret later on, but Mary jumped in just in time, “Look, I’m sorry for my son’s attitude. We’re very appreciative of your hospitality so far.”

Ridlen took the apology with a nod. “It’s fine.” He curled his fingers into his son’s hair as he stared at Dean some more. Dean could feel his fingers tighten around the sandwich he still hadn’t finished yet. “I’m sure, Dean here, is just tired. You guys have traveled rather...far.”

“That is correct,” Jack finally spoke up, having been quiet and lost in thought since they sat down. He grabbed one of the sandwiches and started eating it. 

Dean wasn’t sure why he was bothering. As far as he knew, angels - half angel in Jack’s case - didn’t get hungry or thirsty or even tired. He watched as Cas grabbed a sandwich as well and put half of it in his mouth. They really must have lost their grace for them to be eating now. 

The rest of lunch, dinner, whatever the hell this was - there wasn’t really a way to keep track of time around here - went by silently. Dean was sure part of it had been because of him, but he really couldn’t find a fuck to give. Not with Mr. Handsy over there practically feeling up his son/slave. Dean had no freaking idea how any of them were able to keep their appetite through it. He supposed they had just been that hungry.

After the group finished eating, Ridlen got up and gestured for Farrow to follow suit. Dean casually stood up with the rest of the group, stretching his arms out slowly, as he watched Ridlen out of the corner of his eye. He was really starting to hate everything about this guy. 

“You must all be feeling quite tired,” Ridlen noted as Jack tried to stifle a yawn.

“Surprisingly I am,” Jack said.

“Me too,” Cas murmured.

Sam raised an eyebrow. His look very obviously read ‘since when did angels get tired?’

“I’ll show you to your temporary quarters then,” Ridlen told them.

They followed behind him as he led them out of the dining hall. The ship really was huge. When Dean thought it could house a city in here, he wasn’t too far off. They went up another set up stairs, passing by a couple more slaves with their heads bowed submissively. Dean felt incredibly uneasy. He understood they were in a completely different universe and there were different sets of rules here, but it still didn’t make him completely comfortable with how people were treated. 

And the slaves here definitely were treated differently. They also wore collars, some were led on a leash that, to Dean, was incredibly demeaning. That was something for dogs, pets, not humans - well maybe some of the really kinky ones it was OK. But it just wasn’t something that was done in their universe. People weren’t paraded in collars and leashes, and in one extreme case, shackles. This was just wrong. He found himself clenching his hands again, wishing he could fix this seemingly broken system and free these poor people. The worst thing about all this was probably how content everyone looked, how normal it seemed to be wearing heavy-looking metal collars and horribly conditioned clothing, following someone of a higher social status around like a lost puppy.

It took five minutes of walking through a large hallway and through a couple rooms to get to their temporary space. Ridlen paused just outside of the door and turned to look back at them. “There’s a code to enter the room. It’s a series of random numbers and letters. Here. I have it written down so that you don’t have to memorize it.” He handed a piece of paper to Mary. “If you need anything for the night, you can just grab one of the slaves. Tell them you’re an honorary guest of Percy Ridlen and they will do everything they can to adhere to your request. Otherwise, my quarter is on the other side of the ship.”

Mary nodded. “Thank you...Commander, again. For everything. You didn’t have to extend your hospitality to us - we did trespass. This is very kind of you and we appreciate all of the accommodations you’ve made.”

“Please, Mary, the pleasure is all mine,” Ridlen said with a nod. “Anyways I believe it is time for my son and I to get some rest. He had quite a day.”

The group watched as Ridlen casually steered Farrow out. Dean had a bad feeling as he watched them leave. 

“You OK, Dean?” Sam asked from beside him.

Dean nearly jumped at the sound of his brother’s voice. He almost forgot Sam was there. “Yeah, I’m fine,” Dean said, rubbing his arm. It was a lie. He wasn’t fine, far from it. “What about you guys?”

“I think I’m actually tired,” Cas said. “I must be turning human.” He yawned.

“It’s a weird feeling, isn’t it?” Jack asked.

Cas nodded. “A very weird feeling.”

“Should we go in and get some sleep then?” Sam asked.

Mary unfolded the paper and punched in the code. They waited for the door to swing open. When it did, she turned around and smiled. “Looks like it worked.”

“Great,” Sam said, and started to walk in. “I think we could really use a break. Man sitting in that cramp room was really awful.”

“You guys go on ahead,” Dean told the rest of the group. “I’m not all that tired.”

Mary looked at her son in concern. “Are you sure, Dean?” She peeked behind her to see two large beds, one of which had Sam on it. There was an entry way leading to another room on the other side of the room. “We’ve got a really good set up here. Better than the motels to tell you the truth.”

Dean smiled. “Anything beats those crummy motels we normally stay at,” he said. “Anyways yeah I’m sure. I’m really not tired, Mom.”

There was a moment where Mary just looked at him before biting the bottom of her lip. “Really, Mom, I’m fine. I’m just going to go for a walk. Clear my head. It’s, you know, just a lot to take in,” Dean assured her. He knew he was lying again. He was actually going to follow that son of a bitch and rescue the kid, because weird dystopian society or not, whatever that guy was doing was fucking messed up.

Mary looked like she wanted to argue, but he was saved by Cas who said, “I understand your concerns, Mary, but you must remember that Dean is a grown man. If he says he’s not tired...then well he knows where to find us when he is.”

If Cas could still hear him through prayer he would know Dean was extra grateful for the intervention. “Yeah,” he found himself nodding instead. “What Cas said. Look, Mom, I appreciate the concern, but Cas is right. I’m an adult now and I’ll be fine.” He almost added ‘I’ve been fine for over 40 years without you after all’. Luckily he still had the sense to realize that probably wouldn’t be the best thing to add to his still adjusting from the dead Mom.

Mary sighed. “I know you’re right. You’ve been fine without me for so long, I sometimes forget that.” She stepped closer to him and pulled him into an awkward half hug that Dean was familiar with. “Alright, Dean, here’s the code so that you can get back in. Try and come back soon, and don’t do anything stupid.” She pulled back and gave him a stare that said she meant it, and Dean could only gulp and nod as he took the scrap of paper from her hand and shoved it into the back pocket of his jeans.

Dean watched as Cas, Jack and Mary went inside and shut the door behind them. He sighed, leaning against the wall, trying to motivate himself to follow through with his plan.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **warning** : this is where looking at the tags is really important. thanks!

After a minute of pep talk, Dean was able to move his legs again and start heading in the general direction he had seen Ridlen and his son walk. He found himself getting lost, peeking his head in different rooms to make sure there wasn’t anything there. He had to ask a couple slaves if they’d seen Ridlen and one of them shook their head but a young looking girl with braided blond hair looked up at him in surprise. She couldn’t have been older than 13. She was dressed in a simple see through white gown, and Dean wished he hadn’t been looking at her chest, because as clear as day, he could see her small breasts from under the dress and there were clamps or something hanging down from her nipples. They looked heavy and painful and Dean winced, before looking back up at the furious blush on her pale face.

He could feel his anger boiling hot just under his skin. He was going to save all these people. “You’re looking f-for the Commander?” she asked in a slightly quivering voice.

Dean nodded, trying to calm himself so that he didn’t scare the kid. “Yeah. I’m a guest of his. My name is Dean Winchester. What’s yours?”

She looked startled at the question. Like she hadn’t expected it, or had never been asked it before. “I’m just a slave, Sir,” she said.

“Sure you are,” Dean said easily. “But you’ve gotta have a name. You can’t all be slaves.”

She thought for a moment. Then, almost shyly, she admitted, “I like being called Gemini.”

Dean nodded. “It’s a really pretty name, Gem.”

Gem tilted her head at the nickname. “Gem,” she said, testing it out. “Gem,” she repeated. There was a child-like wonder in her eyes and she smiled at Dean. “I do like that more.”

“It’s a nickname,” Dean said. “I like making up nicknames for people.” He crouched down so that he was eye level with the girl. “Anyways, Gem, I really need to find the Commander. It’s _important_.” He tried to put more emphasis on the word, to show her the urgency in his request.

He watched as the girl’s eyes widened. “Is he OK?”

“He’s fine,” Dean said after a moment. “It’s nothing like that. I just have something important I need to talk to him about. It can’t wait, I'm afraid. You’re just going to have to trust me.”

Gem started nodding as Dean stood. “OK. I trust you, Sir. I’ve seen him. I’ve seen both of them,” she said the last part in a whisper, like it was a secret.

Dean knew what she meant and he could feel his anger boiling again. He gestured for her to take point and said, “Lead the way then, Gem. And please, call me Dean.”

It didn’t take them as long as Dean thought to find them in a room marked ‘Authorized Personnel Only’. Dean had to snort at the sign. Clearly wasn’t suspicious at all. He tried to open the door but it looked like it took only cards and obviously Dean or Gem didn’t have those. He decided to just stand against the wall next to the door, ears straining to hear anything suspicious that he could use against the commander. Gem had been standing next to him anxiously awaiting orders and Dean decided the kid shouldn’t witness whatever was happening or going to happen so he sent her on her way with reassurances that the dear commander was fine.

He was not fine, he knew. Wasn’t going to be by the time Dean was done with him. As soon as he had evidence that he was abusing his son, Dean planned on beating the shit out of him. Consequences be damned. Alternate Universe or not, Dean was still in the very real business of ganking monsters and saving people. And anyone into slavery was a monster in his book.

He waited ten minutes, tapping his fingers against his leg, wondering maybe he had been wrong after all. He had been getting really creepy vibes from the douche but maybe the whole hand petting thing was as far as the bastard had the guts to do. He was about to call the mission a bust, when he heard the first scream. Panicked, Dean jiggled the door handle, as the sound of something whooshed through the air. Another shriek rang through the door and Dean found himself trying to shoulder-check the door in a futile attempt to open it.

“Son of a bitch! What the hell is going on in there?” Dean demanded, pounding the door hard. He could feel his knuckles bleeding but he didn’t care. He had to save the kid from his maniac of a father.

“Open the damn door, you psycho!” Dean shouted as he heard another whooshing sound and another ear splitting scream.

After ten minutes of trying to open the door in various ways, Dean finally stopped, leaning forward, panting heavily. The screams died down finally. It still did nothing to quell the fear that was creeping up in him. He absolutely hated feeling useless. As he tried to gather a couple calming breaths, the door swung open and Dean fell back on his ass. He groaned at the pain, “Son of a…”

“Dean? What are you doing here?” Ridlen looked down at him with an expression that said he wasn’t impressed in the slightest.

Dean looked up to see the man holding a long whip in one hand. He peered behind him to see Farrow knelt over a small bench, shackled and unmoving. His back was a grotesque crisscross of very painful-looking lashes. Dean couldn’t stop himself at this point. His anger reached its boiling point. This man claimed to be the boy’s father and yet he treated him less than human. All Dean saw were the deep cuts that were bleeding and the kid’s pained expression. Before he could really think out his moves, he launched himself at the commander, tackling him to the floor. 

Dean delivered the first punch to the side of the bastard’s face. He was going to beat the shit out of him and it was going to feel so satisfying. He was about to punch the guy in the nose, when he suddenly felt hands restraining him. Dean struggled as a couple of other men pulled him off the bastard. “Let me fucking go!” Dean snarled.

No matter how much he fought though, the men on either side of him would not let go, having firm grips on his arms. His arms were pulled roughly behind him and he felt cold metal circle his wrists. He froze for a moment before adrenaline pumped through him and Dean started fighting to escape even harder. But it was too late and suddenly there was a ‘clink’ as one of the men - a guy taller than Dean and was pretty much all muscles, with cropped brown hair that was very similar to Dean’s own hairstyle - shackled his hands together behind him.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Dean demanded, scowling at Ridlen. “You’re fucking whipping a kid! _Your_ kid! Do you have any idea how messed up that is?”

Ridlen was still on the floor, pushed up on an elbow as he wiped the blood from the side of his face where Dean punched him with his other hand. He turned his palm over and stared down at the blood for a moment. He looked back up at Dean, his dark eyes assessing Dean coolly. Dean was still furious. The bastard fucking whipped his kid without a care in the world. The whip in his hand was on the floor a few feet away from them. It looked wicked, black handle, with small thorns on the end. It looked like it could rip through flesh like it was nothing, and judging by the deep cuts on the kid’s back, that was no assumption on Dean’s part - it was fucking reality.

“No, Dean, I don’t need to explain myself to you,” Ridlen said eerily calm, rising to his feet after a moment. He walked slowly over to pick up the whip, and Dean couldn’t help but watch him with some apprehension. 

Dean wasn’t stupid. He knew he was at a disadvantage, chained up, and in the grip of men stronger than him. If Ridlen wanted to teach Dean a lesson, he could. Easily. And it was stupid and reckless of Dean to come here alone. He knew very well he was in deep shit. He had gotten creepy, incest vibes from the man because of the way he had been behaving around his son, but Dean hadn’t imagined that behind closed doors, he was also whipping him. Dean tensed as Ridlen looked down at the whip, casually twirling it in his hands, before looking back to Dean with a gleam in his eyes that spoke of dark things. Dean shuddered, fighting the urge to look away. He was not going to cave to this sadistic son of a bitch.

“You seem awfully keen on ‘saving’ my slave,” Ridlen said as he started to walk slow circles around Dean. His boots echoed with each step.

Dean found himself turning his head to watch the man’s movements. “Well it’s kind of my job to save people from fucking monsters,” Dean sneered.

“And I’m a monster? For wanting to discipline what is _mine_?” Ridlen asked him, pausing just for a moment. He tilted his head a little, studying Dean, like he was an interesting new species of insects or something. It made Dean uncomfortable. 

“That’s not disciplining and he’s not your property,” Dean told him firmly, trying to calm his nerves.

“But he is, Dean. He’s my son. He’s my slave,” Ridlen chided, like he was scolding a little kid. He started to walk around him again. Dean felt his anger boil at being talked down to like a kid. The bastard was barely older than him. He jerked against the men holding him but they just grunted and held him back. Ridlen didn’t seem particularly worried.

“It’s OK, Artemis. Jekins. Let him go. He’s restrained as it is. There’s no harm in letting Dean let loose some pent up energy,” Ridlen said, and then Dean was being let go.

Dean stumbled forward, just barely catching himself before he fell face first. He took a deep breath, still not understanding why they let him go. He was going to go after their precious master, Ridlen. He was still shackled, sure, but Dean had always been capable even without the use of his hands. He had to be. He looked up to see Ridlen twirling his whip casually, like Dean wasn’t even a threat, and it made him angrier. Ridlen had a lazy smirk on his face that did not reach his cold brown eyes.

“You really think you can take me on?” Dean asked, starting to circle the other way as Ridlen moved again.

Ridlen didn’t take the bait though. He paused, causing Dean to stop as well and tense. Then suddenly Ridlen jerked the whip into the air and then down quicker than Dean could duck. The bite of the whip to the side of his face caught him by surprise and Dean almost cried out at the unexpected pain. He could feel his cheek bleeding, could see blood, wet and warm, trail down and drip from his chin. _Son of a bitch._

He glared at the man. “You’re one sick motherfucker, you know,” Dean snarled.

“I’ve been called worse,” Ridlen said offhandedly.

He flicked the whip up again and this time Dean dove out of the way in time. He scrambled up quickly and ducked away just in time as the whip came down again. It went on for another 20 minutes and Dean was starting to pant from having to run around the room as Ridlen walked toward him casually. He hadn’t been able to get a shot on the bastard and Ridlen knew Dean was getting tired now. Fucking hell.

“I wonder how much longer you can keep running, Dean,” Ridlen said. He flicked the whip into the air and Dean stumbled to the side, a little too slowly. It caught him on his leg and he found himself crying out in pain, falling to his knees.

He took a deep breath, looking down at the floor. He could hear heavy feet approaching and knew it was Ridlen and his damn whip, but he couldn’t get himself to move. _End of the line, huh, Winchester_? Ridlen crouched down in front of him, brown eyes glinting something dangerous. Dean tried not to flinch, “Gonna kill me now?”

“No, I’m going to punish you first,” Ridlen told him. He turned to the men, Artemis and Jekins and gestured for them to haul Dean up. “Take him into the room and chain him to the bench. I want to show him what happens to people who try to interfere in the middle of my disciplining session.”

A strong hand gripped his hair roughly and jerked him up to his feet. “C’mon tough guy, you sure pissed off the Commander,” Artemis told him, shoving him forward.

Dean walked on unsteady legs, into the room with Farrow still strapped to the bench. He tried not to flinch at the cuts he could see the kid’s bare back. He watched as Jekins, a shorter man but just as built as Dean, walked over and unstrapped the boy from the bench. He let the kid fall over and kicked him to the side. The kid groaned in pain, trying to curl up protectively but Jekins just grinned and kicked him again, moving him further away from the bench.

What the fucking hell was it with sadists running wild around here?

He went for another kick that was completely unnecessary and this time, Dean couldn’t keep quiet anymore. He pulled against Artemis’ iron grip, snarling, “Quit kicking the damn kid! He’s in fucking pain, you asshole!”

Jekins barely spared him a glance before saying, “Strap him down, would you?”

“No you fucking won’t! Let me go!” Dean tried to twist out of his grip as Artemis led him to the bench. No matter how hard he tried though, he couldn’t get away, and Dean soon enough found himself bent over the bench, shackled to the bench by his ankles. “You better kill me now,” he told Artemis coldly as he checked to make sure there was no give in the chains.

Artemis didn’t say anything, just shot him a look that was more pitying than anything. Dean wasn’t sure what he found worse. The sadism or the pity. He hated both. He heard Ridlen walk over as Artemis got up and moved to the side. Dean twisted around to see Ridlen holding the fucking whip still. He understood what was going to happen, but it didn’t make him feel better. In fact, he hated the anticipation he felt.

“I’m not going to kill you, Dean,” Ridlen said calmly.

“Quit using my name like we’re friends,” Dean growled.

There was a beat of silence, and Dean wondered if he was pushing his luck way too far. He figured he already attempted to beat the shit out of the guy so demanding him not to use his name probably wasn’t really taking it that far. Ridlen was on him in just moments, however, gripping his hair and pulling Dean’s head back so hard that for a moment he wondered if the man was going to snap his neck. 

“Fine, then, how about ‘slave’ instead?”

“What?” Dean felt a chill creep down his spine.

“Did I forget to mention what other things I trade besides food and weapons?” Ridlen asked nonchalantly. He looked Dean dead in the eyes as he said, “Slaves.”

Dean felt his blood run cold.


End file.
